Lined receptacles have long been known, but two constant problems have been the need to provide a close fit of the liner to the receptacle walls so as to assure entry of materials being packed solely within the liner and also to prevent the inserted liner from slipping to the bottom of the receptacle or onto the contents therein when one is dropping material into a lined receptacle. Moreover, removing a filled liner from the receptacle, searching for a replacement liner and installing the new liner in the receptacle can be tedious and inconvenient.
Prior receptacles have not solved these problems efficiently. Prior receptacles often require complex, costly, multi-part holding or clamping structures, or are difficult to use even if simplified.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,861 discloses a receptacle for removably holding a plurality of loop-handled plastic bags. The receptacle includes cleats projecting upwardly from opposing inside walls and fingers projecting downwardly from other opposing inside walls. The handles of the bags hang from the cleats with the balance of the bag opening pinned against the inside walls by the fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,380 discloses a trash receptacle provided with four ears, one at each corner, to support a bag liner preferably having incorporated handles. In particular, the ears are intended to have the bag handles looped around them such that the bag's sides hug the container walls, thus assuring that all refuse is captured within the liner bag. To this end, a tip of each ear protrudes beyond and above a rim around the opening, requiring the handles to be stretched over them, and a notch in the exterior of each ear near the container corner lies well below the rim, causing the bag's edges outside the handle area also to be held in desired relation to the walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,150 discloses a molded waste receptacle having integral tabs formed in its side walls, the tabs being pressed inwardly to engage a rolled-over edge of a liner bag and pinch it against the receptacle wall when pressing is ended. Simultaneous manipulation of both a tab and the edge requires some dexterity, and furthermore, the occurrence of gaps between the liner bag and the wall is not prevented, allowing waste disposal to occur between liner and receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,916 discloses a packing box for bulk quantities of flexible bags with carrying handles, the box being convertible into a packing unit for the bags, because of provision of pre-perforated front panel and side flaps, the latter folding upward to provide tabs upon which the bag handles are received. Control of gaps between bag and receptacle is not provided and the box is not a leak-proof unit because of the pre-perforations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,835 discloses a pair of wire brackets, each bracket supporting the handle of a liner bag and being fastened in spaced relation to the interior of a respective wall of a trash receptacle. The spacing is necessary for accommodating the user's fingers while inserting and removing the bag, even though such spacing undesirably allows waste disposal to occur between bag and receptacle. Furthermore, if the bag is overfilled, these internally-disposed brackets can present a barrier to easy removal of the liner even though the bag's handles are readily grasped.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,652 discloses a wire rack for suspending a plastic bag by its handle loops in an open-mouthed state of the bag, a protective wall being present on one side only (the rack being fastened to a cabinet door on that side).
Accordingly, there is need for a receptacle in which liner support is provided in a simple, low-cost, easily usable fashion, while eliminating gaps between the liner and the receptacle walls which would otherwise undesirably allow packing material to pass into the receptacle outside the confines of the liner. The receptacle should also facilitate storage, removal and replacement of liners.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.